Posted March 10, 2017 16:02:46

Photo: Twenty minutes of play were lost due to the fire alarm. (AP: Mark Baker)

The first Test between New Zealand and South Africa stopped dead after an alarm went off in the main grandstand, forcing an evacuation of the entire venue.

The alarm started going off at University Oval in Dunedin after tea on the third day with South Africa 1-14 in their second innings, still 19 runs behind New Zealand's 341.

The main stand, which houses the changing rooms, was being evacuated before an announcement was made that the entire venue had to be evacuated, causing confusion amongst the players and crowd.

New Zealand's cricket team tweeted the cause of the siren was unknown, while Cricket South Africa (CSA) said "fire fighters have arrived on scene" before tweeting it was a false alarm.

Photo: Initially only one stand was ordered to evacuate before all fans were told to leave. (AP: Mark Baker)

About 20 minutes were lost to the confusion, with stumps pushed back as a result.

Strange delays are becoming commonplace in Proteas games, with a swarm of bees stopping South Africa's ODI against Sri Lanka last month.

Reuters/ABC

Topics: cricket, sport, new-zealand